Syring Family Update

For those who know me know that I am in LOVE with Fibonacci's sequence. It is just so damn elegant.

Well, I have another reason to love it, because my family is living it...let me explain...and see if you can figure it out...

We can get metaphysical and say that before I was born, I was 0, nothing, void.
Then there was me, I was 1.
Then there was Mara, she was 1.
Then we got married, our family was 2.
Then came Rohan, and our family grew to 3.
Do you know the next number in the Fibonacci series? 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, ?

It's 5! Meaning we have twins on the way! :)

Due date is mid-April, but we're guessing they will be slightly early. We are SUPER excited!
Rohan is asking all sorts of questions, and told Mara he wants twin girls...I don't think he understand the consequences of that...:)

Here are a couple, very early, ultrasounds. We will post more when we know more! :)

Rohan’s Longest Camping Trip!

This last holiday weekend took advantage of the 3 day weekend and turned it into a 4 ½ day weekend by taking a ½ day on Thursday and heading up North to the Mogollon Rim.  I picked up Rohan and the dogs and scouted for a perfect spot.  The woods are pretty full of people on holiday weekends, but I eventually found a spot that was somewhat isolated from drunken hillbillies.  Mara had to work Thurs/Fri so it was just Rohan, the dogs, and I that first night.  It was really fun to explore the woods and trails with Rohan, and he had a blast with the freedom he had!  We hiked a bit, explored the forest a bit, set up camp, and cooked, all to his amazement/interest.

Friday we set up guides for friends to find us.  Mara rode up with another one of our friends, Ryan, and Shannon came up that night as well.  Shannon made a GREAT dinner with steak, potaotes, asparagus, and who knows what else; all cooked on the coals of the fire.  It was perfect!

Saturday we headed back to East Clear Creek and did some kayaking and Deep Water Soloing/climbing again…we LOVE that area!  We met Jason & Jaymie there, who came up from PHX that morning.  It rained on us as usual, but we didn’t care, and Rohan even fell asleep in Mara’s boat…it was adorable…:)  That night Angelika, Michael, Patrick, (another) Ryan, and Heson came and joined us for a total of 11 people!  It was a great night of campfire, hanging out, and eating MORE great food!  Unfortunately Mara had to work on Sunday so she had to head back that night, but it was great she could get out of PHX for 24hrs!

Sunday the kayakers took to Blue Ridge Reservoir while others headed to Horton Springs on a solid hike down and up the rim.  The wind on Sunday night was pretty wicked, so it cut down the time we spent around the fire, but we still found some things to do.  Rohan always kept us entertained with is antics, and we use a tomahawk from Angelika’s stash to do some throwing contests and even do some deforesting (of dead trees of course…).

One exciting thing that happened on Thursday while we were looking for a spot is that I got the truck back to a fairly “tight” spot where I basically needed to do a 12+ point turn to get out.  Everything was fine until about turn 9 when I slowly backed into a tree that was in my blind spot and obscured by one of the 3 kayaks I had in the back.  It slowly pushed one of the kayaks through our back window (on the driver’s side).  Luckily Rohan was not covered in glass or anything, but he was a little shaken.  He calmed down quickly and when we did finally get to our site (which had plenty of trees) he said he was going to take his Captain America shield and chop down all the trees so I wouldn’t back into them…what a thoughtful boy…:)

We had an absolute AWESOME weekend with great friends, great food, great views, and awesome weather to storm watch!  We got some rain, but it never dampens our mood, it’s all part of the experience!   Hope everyone had a fun/safe weekend!

Shelf Jump:


Rohan & Jaymie Summiting The Tailgate:


Ryan Going Caveman On A Tree:

More Camping/Kayaking/Hiking...with stargazing this time!

We took yet another break from the heat this last weekend and headed back up to Northern AZ where it's about 15-20°F cooler, and about 30°F cooler at night (6250ft in elevation, compared to PHX at ~1500ft)!  This time we camped with some friends at Jack's Canyon (a climbing area that recently had a fire caused by lightning).  We got a fresh start in the morning and headed to Winslow to East Clear Creek (much like we did a couple weeks back).  We were in the water at 9am and didn't get back to the truck until about 4:30pm!  It was an AWESOME day on the water, and we got TONS of climbing in.  One was about a 35' jump from a small shrub...had to do this one a couple of times!!! :)
We camped at Jacks again and did some stargazing and meteor shower watching.  The Perseids did not disappoint.  We watched some really strong ones and  some even had streaking trails that hung around for a while...really fun!  Rohan was super excited and even fell asleep in his chair watching the skies...it was awesomely adorable...:)



Rohan's Jump:

Highest jump of the day: 

The Syrings Jump: 

Captain Rohan explaining Thor's powers: 

Small Vacations & Enjoying The Summer!

Wow, we have been busy! (Hence the lack of blog posts...)
A couple weeks back (end of July) I finished up TGen's Helios Internship Program for students interested in science.  My intern did an awesome job, and she churnned out some great work.  A lot of investigators were asking very good questions and I'm sure I'll be hearing more from them in the coming weeks.  We had a symposium on a Friday and after a celebratory beer with the other mentors, Mara, Rohan and the dogs picked me up and off we went on an adventure.  Friday night we camped at Joshua Tree National Forest in California   Absolutely gorgeous, and we found a free place to crash for the night.  The next day we headed to Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, about an hour outside San Diego, where we set up camp and did a couple day trips into San Diego.  We LOVE to visit San Diego, but wouldn't want to live there.  We took the dogs to the Mission Beach Dog Beach where Schroeder had a blast chasing balls in the ocean, and Rohan had a blast as well running through the causeway and in the waves.
We also hit up the Little Italy Mercado where Rohan got to see his favorite accordion player, Smilin' Jack.  He's a little creepy, but a super nice guy.  We also took time to check out the USS Midway docked museum.  We couldn't go on it this time since we had the dogs, but we relaxed at the park next to it, and Rohan wouldn't stop talking about it.  We walked by Petco Park (where the Padres play baseball) and ran around their Park at the Park; a really awesome idea, and Rohan loved playing in the shadow of a baseball field!
The awesome kick to the end of the trip was The Field Irish Pub.  They had live dancing and Irish/Celtic music and we had the best seat in the house!  They gave us an elevated booth looking down on the dancers. Rohan would take a bit and chew it while he was trying to shove his head through the banister to watch.  Definitely a place to hit when we go back!
Earlier in the week Mara's vacation started (on a Wednesday...FFS), I took a day off and we headed down to Tuscon.  We never really explored the area as well as we would like, so we did just that.  We hit up a couple coffee shops, a couple parks, a Thai restaurant, and of course Mount Lemmon.  Mt Lemmon is HUGE, and it is about a 25mi drive from the base to the top, but it has some great views and was VERY cool and comfortable at the top (100°F+ below).  Rohan took it upon himself to do a Tough Mudder course which consisted of climbing, running, jumping over logs, trees, and streams...very similar to the real one...:)  He had a blast exploring and has really taken to engaging his surroundings and seeing what he can find.
Such a great week for Mara to have off, we always try to make the most of these rare vacations.

Rohan being C-R-A-Z-Y in San Diego:

Irish Dancing at The Field (wish you could see how enthralled he was!):

Schroeder having fun in the causeway:

Linus the not-so water dog:

Beating The Heat (Again)

We took a little break from the heat this weekend to explore some areas at or around a mile high...:) We camped at Blue Ridge Reservoir (about 7400 feet in elevation) and dodged rain the first night. It rained on our way up, but quit while we set up camp, ate dinner, explored the forest, and sat by the fire. A great first night! Saturday we took a day trip to East Clear Creek Canyon in Winslow, AZ. We took Rohan on a 3+mi kayak trip down the canyon. He had a blast, but couldn’t wait to get out and play on the rocks and jump into the water. We found a nice spot that had a 25’ jump for Mara and I, and a 12-15’ jump for Rohan. He was so excited to do it (but just a tiny bit scared). We stopped for lunch in Winslow and headed back to camp afterwards. Rohan was creating his “Tough Mudder Captain America Steve Rogers” course the rest of the day/night. He probably ran it 20 or more times…check out the video for the course walkthrough. Sunday we headed down to the reservoir amongst some awesome fog on the water and temps around 60°F! A far cry from the 112°F we left in Phoenix! The water was pristine, and very still. We kayaked another 3-3.5mi around the reservoir, and found a great place to snack and enjoy the serenity of the lake. Such a difference between the canyon and the reservoir, so it was awesome to kayak on both within a day! AZ is such a wonderland of terrain! Last week we also had a leak in our water line from the city to our house so we had a couple friends drop what they were doing come and help with that. Such great people we know! Enjoy the pics & vids!

Rohan's way of helping fix a leak:

Rohan's "Tough Mudder Captain America Steve Rogers" Course:

1st Person Jump (mainly for Michelle & Jen...:P):

Mara's Jump:

Rohan's First Jump:

Rohan's 2nd Cliff Jump:

Rohan discussing astronomy while traversing:

Rohan shooting bad guys then jumping: